Looking to rent in London? Now’s the time to jump in: Analyst

If you’re looking to rent an apartment, now’s the time, says a Canadian rental analyst.

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“For the next few months, we’re going to see more affordable rents right across Canada. Once the weather starts to improve again, we don’t expect to see rents get any better than they are now,” David Aizikov, senior analyst with Rentals.ca, said Tuesday.

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Rent increases slowed during November in London and across Canada, as they traditionally do during fall, he said.

“People are reacting in a seasonal way. People simply don’t want to move because they have other priorities. In the cold weather, people want to stay home rather than moving their entire lives,” Aizikov said. “That’s what we’re seeing in London, that typical seasonality.”

But come spring, rent increases likely will return, he said.

Increases in rents slowed in November in London, but are on track for an eight per cent jump over 2022 as the year ends, according to the latest figures from Rentals.ca and Urbanation. Their reports look at asking rents, what people are facing when looking to move.

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The latest report shows London rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments ranked 18th highest among 35 Canadian cities.

“London’s average rents for all property types are pretty reasonable in terms of the broader country,” Aizikov said.

London continues to benefit from the construction of new rental units, he said.

“London is in a very special position in Ontario. It has a very prosperous development community.”

But there are forces pushing rents up, Aizikov said.

“London has been increasingly becoming the focus of attention in a lot of households realizing Toronto is unaffordable, and looking for an alternative market that offers them strong employment opportunities and more affordable home ownership.”

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The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in London was $1,872 last month, with the average rents for two-bedroom units at $2,281.

The average rent for a one-bedroom fell 0.3 per cent from the month before, while the average rent for the two-bedrooms rose one per cent.

Throw in condos, studios and larger units and the month-to-month increase was about one per cent, with the year-to-year increase at eight per cent.

The biggest rent increase, almost 12 per hundred year to year, came in studio apartments, with the average asking rent in London at $1,445.

Studio apartments had been priced low and have been drawing a lot of interest, forcing rents up, Aizikov said.

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Canada saw the third month in a row of moderate rent growth, with the national average from October to November increasing 0.2 per cent, Rentals.ca and Urbanation reported.

There was an 8.4 per cent increase, year-over-year, in November, compared to annual growth rates of 9.9 per cent in October and 11.1 per cent in September.

During the pandemic, rents dropped as vacancy rates grew, Aizikov said.

“People left major markets. Nobody was moving into apartments.”

Post-pandemic in 2022, renters came back to cities and rents rose to previous levels, he said.

“In 2023, we saw a continued explosion. The demand was running off the charts. We had more people coming into the country. We had more people looking for apartments. We had people priced out of the housing market,” he said.

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Policy changes to promote rental construction haven’t had an effect yet, Aizikov said.

“We’re not going to see rents decline because we’re not seeing a sufficient number of new apartments in the market.”

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CURRENT RENTS

Hamilton: one-bedroom – $1,846, two-bedroom – $2,225

Waterloo: one-bedroom – $1,624, two-bedroom – $2,442

Burlington: one-bedroom – $2,203, two-bedroom – $2,533

Windsor: one-bedroom – $1,544, two-bedroom – $1,952

London: one-bedroom – $1,872, two-bedroom – $2,281

National average: one-bedroom – $1,911, two-bedroom – $2,260

Source: Rentals.ca and Urbanization

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